Mahmoud Abbas, the president of the Palestinian Authority, praised U.S. President Donald Trump’s plan for a truce in Gaza and called for it to be put into action quickly. This would include freeing all hostages, allowing humanitarian aid to enter, and exchanging prisoners. The State of Palestine at the UN claimed that Abbas said the initiative should be a start toward a sustainable political settlement that would create an independent Palestinian state on the 1967 lines with East Jerusalem as its capital, according to the State of Palestine at the UN.
On Wednesday, Trump stated that Israel and Hamas had agreed to start the first part of a peace plan that the U.S. helped design. The plan calls for the release of all hostages “very soon” and for Israeli troops to pull back to a certain line. He said good things about the mediators from Qatar, Egypt, and Turkey.
Al-Qahera News TV in Egypt said that an agreement covering the first phase’s rules and procedures will go into effect on Thursday at noon local time (0900 GMT).
Xinhua says that senior Hamas official Osama Hamdan said the truce would start right away after the Israeli government agrees to it.
Sources close to Hamas told Xinhua that the group is moving Israeli prisoners to safe places in Gaza in preparation for an expected exchange. The prisoners will be handed over to the International Committee of the Red Cross in the next few days.
The UN’s relief agency for Palestine refugees said the ceasefire and release of hostages would be “a huge relief” and pledged rapid support. According to UNRWA, the pause would bring respite to people who have endured two years of bombardment and displacement, and allow hostages and Palestinian detainees to reunite with their families. The agency said it has food, medicines, and other basics ready for Gaza, with enough to feed the entire population for the next three months. It added that UNRWA teams in Gaza are essential to implementing the agreement and restoring services such as healthcare and education, noting that more than 660,000 children are waiting to return to school. UNRWA called on member states to support its work during the critical period ahead.
Abbas praised Trump and all the other mediators for their work and stressed that the Palestinians are willing to work with others to make sure the plan works. He also asked the rest of the world to pressure Israel to cease building settlements, stop settler aggression, stop activities against holy sites, and release tax money that has been held back.
He stressed again that the State of Palestine has control over Gaza and that Palestinian institutions and security services should work together to rule the area with help from Arab and international groups.
Trump’s announcement called the deal the start of a “strong, durable, and everlasting peace.” Virginia Times says that the timeline for the next phases and the specific steps that need to be taken have not been made public.
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